Vol. 8 (2014), pp. 345-360 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24612 Developing a Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages Catherine Bow, Michael Christie, Brian Devlin Charles Darwin University The fluctuating fortunes of Northern Territory bilingual education programs in Aus- tralian languages and English have put at risk thousands of books developed for these programs in remote schools. In an effort to preserve such a rich cultural and linguistic heritage, the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages project is establishing an open access, online repository comprising digital versions of these materials. Using web technologies to store and access the resources makes them accessible to the commu- nities of origin, the wider academic community, and the general public. The process of creating, populating, and implementing such an archive has posed many interesting technical, cultural and linguistic challenges, some of which are explored in this paper. 1. INTRODUCTION. During the era of bilingual education in the Northern Territory (1973 – 2000s), many books were produced at school-based Literature Production Centres in more than 25 languages. These materials, which are both widely dispersed and endan- gered, contain interesting and significant stories in Indigenous Australian languages, many with beautiful illustrations. As a result of policy and other changes, many of the materi- als produced for these programs are no longer in use, and in many places have been lost, damaged or, occasionally, deliberately destroyed. The goal of the Living Archive of Abo- riginal Languages project1 is to create a digital repository of this endangered literature and, with permission from the language authorities (usually original authors and illustrators or their descendants), to make the materials available to community members, researchers, and other interested parties through a searchable, online repository. The aim is to create a living archive with strong connections to the communities of origin. The process of creating the archive has involved identifying and sourcing the books, scanning and digitizing them, and storing them safely. Once permission was obtained, the digital copies and any other related materials were then uploaded to the online archive so people could access them readily. The creation, population, and implementation of such an archive has posed a number of interesting challenges, as the project team endeavored to follow best practices in language archiving and to create a functional and user-friendly interface, while being culturally sensitive and responsive to community wishes. This paper discusses some of these technical, cultural, and logistical challenges and outlines what solutions were identified to resolve each of these sometimes-conflicting goals. 1 The Living Archive project is a partnership between Charles Darwin University (CDU), the Australian National University (ANU), and the Northern Territory Department of Education, funded through a Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant (LE120100016) from the Australian Research Council (ARC). The archive is accessible online at www.cdu.edu.au/laal/. Licensed under Creative Commons E-ISSN 1934-5275 Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Developing a Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages 346 2. BACKGROUND. In late 1972, the Commonwealth Government of Australia announced a policy of bilingual education for Aboriginal children in communities where traditional languages were spoken (Devlin 2009). Over the following decades, bilingual programs were gradually established in 20 remote communities in the Northern Territory, many with their own Literature Production Centre (LPC) located within the school. These LPCs were charged with the task of producing literature in key languages, and thereby providing the books and other resources needed to support vernacular and English literacy in bilingual programs. Some smaller schools had Literacy Centres which performed a similar function but without the printing equipment of LPCs. The aim of producing vernacular materials was to “flood the place with literature ... (for the) rapid and effective attainment of literacy in the vernacular” (O’Grady & Hale 1974:3), with the additional understanding that biliter- acy programs assisted the transfer of skills to English literacy (Devlin 2011). Many senior people in communities supported bilingual education because it would allow their children to learn both traditional Indigenous knowledge and mainstream Australian knowledge, and (though often illiterate) they were committed to the possibility of preserving knowledge using whatever tools were available. The selection of schools for bilingual programs was based on the existence of a dom- inant community language that had an established orthography, available specialist staff such as a linguist, and the interest and willingness of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to be involved in the programs. Of approximately 150 languages of the Northern Territory (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011), around 25 were included in bilingual pro- grams. Figure 1 shows the location of the LPCs and the languages included, while Table 1 lists the languages relating to each location. FIGURE 1. Map of languages and locations of bilingual education programs in the Northern Territory. LANGUAGE DOCUMENTATION &CONSERVATION VOL. 8, 2014 Developing a Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages 347 LOCATION(S) OF LPC/LC LANGUAGE(S) OF OTHER LANGUAGES IN ESTIMATED INSTRUCTION IN THE COLLECTION NUMBER OF SCHOOL BOOKS GOVERNMENT Angurugu, Umbakumba Anindilyakwa 120 Areyonga, Kaltukatjara Pitjantjatjara 220 (Docker River) Barunga Kriol Jawoyn, Dalabon (Ngalkbun), 350 Rembarrnga, Mayali, Wardaman, Gunwinggu Galiwin’ku DjambarrpuyNu GupapuyNu, Galpu, Golumala, 330 Ŋaymil, DhaNu, RirratjiNu, Warramiri, Wangurri Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) Kunwinjku 50 Maningrida Burarra, Ndjébbana Gurrogoni, Kuninjku, Nakara, 400 (Gunibidji) Wurlaki, Djinang, Dalabon (Dangbon), Kunbarlang Milingimbi GupapuyNu DjambarrpuyNu, Liyagalawumirr, 250 Gumatj, Yan-nhaNu, Madarrpa, DhalwaNu, RirratjiNu, Liyagawumirr¯ Numbulwar Wubuy (Nunggubuyu) Ngandi, Mara, Ritharngu, Wagilak 160 Papunya, Walungurru Pintupi Luritja 300 (Kintore) ¯ Warruwi Maung 350 Yirrkala Gumatj, Dhuwaya Dhuwala, DhalwaNu, Djapu, 320 Madarrpa, RirratjiNu, Wangurri ¯ Yuendumu, Lajamanu, Warlpiri 500 Willowra CATHOLIC Santa Teresa (Ltyentye Arrernte (Eastern) 150 Apurte ) Nguiu (Wurrumiyanga) Tiwi 300 Wadeye Murrinh-Patha 250 INDEPENDENT Yipirinya Eastern Arrernte, Western 250 Arrernte, Warlpiri, Luritja TABLE 1. List of locations and languages of bilingual education programs in the Northern Territory.2 Subsequent policy changes led to the demise of bilingual education in most of these communities (Devlin 2009; Simpson, Caffery & McConvell 2009), though a few schools have retained some language and literacy programs. This has meant the closure of many LPCs, while a few remain active and others have been repurposed (usually as photocopy rooms or storage areas). The impetus behind the Living Archive project is the resulting endangerment of the materials created in the LPCs, due to fluctuations in policy, and sometimes school lead- ership. In some communities, all the copies of particular books have disappeared or been destroyed. In at least two locations there are tales of principals clearing out whole collec- tions of books and having them burnt or taken to the tip (landfill). Extant books which are available in various libraries (such as Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait 2 The second column of this table lists the primary language(s) of the bilingual programs, while the third column includes both language group names (such as Dhuwala) and individual clan languages (such as Djapu) in which additional materials were produced. LANGUAGE DOCUMENTATION &CONSERVATION VOL. 8, 2014 Developing a Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages 348 Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the National Library in Canberra, Northern Territory Library, and academic collections such as the Australian National University, Charles Darwin Uni- versity, and Batchelor Institute libraries) are often stored in special collections of rare books available only for registered users and not for loan, and are thus largely inaccessible to the public. While some materials have been digitized, those digital versions were not held in any centralized location, making discoverability and access quite difficult. In addition, the materials have in many cases become isolated from their communities of origin and particularly from the various language groups where they were produced. Another goal of this project is to establish unique social and technical possibilities for increasing the participation of remote Aboriginal knowledge authorities in areas of sig- nificant research by connecting (or re-connecting) the materials with the owners and with researchers interested in collaborating with relevant people in communities. The project also aims to help Aboriginal people gain access to a part of their intellectual history, to allow them to mobilize epistemologies, histories, environmental knowledge, and nar- rative practices towards cultural and linguistic sustainability for themselves and others. This trans-disciplinary project crosses into a number of different fields, including language documentation and description, language endangerment, digital archiving, and indigenous epistemologies and pedagogies. While some of these fields have developed